MGM
A few weeks ago, we brought you the story of legendary actor Sylvester Stallone taking to social media to call out Rocky producer Irwin Winkler for not sharing the rights to the franchise with him and his family.
“A very flattering portrait of the great ‘Rocky’/’Creed’ producer, Irwin Winkler, from one of the country’s greatest,” Stallone wrote. “After Irwin controlling ‘Rocky’ for over 47 years, and now ‘Creed’, I really would like to have at least a little [of] WHAT’S LEFT of my rights back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN — I believe that would be a fair gesture from this 93-year-old gentleman?” Stallone said in mid-July.
Now, just a few short weeks later, Stallone and fellow Rocky franchise star Dolph Lundgren are taking shots at Winkler once again, this time over reports that a spinoff film based on Ivan Drago is in the works.
Sly Stallone and Dolph Lundgren rip Rocky producers over reports of an Ivan Drago spinoff project
Following the news of the Drago spinoff, Stallone took to social media to once again fire shots at the current stewards of the Rocky franchise:
“This pathetic producer [Irwin Winkler] and his moronic, vulture children are once again picking clean the bones of another character I created … I never wanted Rocky characters to be exploited by these parasites.”
Joining Stallone in his frustration was actor Dolph Lundgren, who originally portrayed the Ivan Drago character in 1985’s Rocky IV.
“Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spinoff. There’s no approved script, no deals in place, no director and I was personally under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor. There was a press leak last week which was unfortunate. In touch with Mr. Balboa – just so all the fans can relax,” Lundgren wrote on Instagram.
The studio that owns the Rocky franchise, MGM, was recently acquired by Amazon, so perhaps that explains the seemingly sudden pursuit of a Drago movie.
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